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Sadiq Defends Ban On Body Shaming Ads On Tube

Sadiq Khan defends his plan to ban "body shaming" adverts on the tube after caller tells him he should have more important things to do.

03:15

An LBC caller grills Sadiq Khan on how his ban on "body shaming" ads on the Tube will work.

Khan's aim is to tackle ads on the Tube that he told LBC "promote unrealistic body images". The most notorious example of those is the "Beach Body Ready?" ad from last year:

During Speak To Sadiq on LBC this afternoon, the Mayor gave more details on how the policy will work.

"Public advertising on the Tube or buses is different from a magazine or what you see on TV. When you’re standing on a platform waiting for a train or your Tube, you can’t switch over the page or turn over the channel. It’s there in front of you," said Khan.

"The new policy is is to ban unhealthy body image ads on our buses, Tubes and trains.

"There’ll be a steering committee of experts, including TfL, those from the advertising industry who’ll advise us, they won’t allow ads which could cause pressure to conform to an unrealistic or unhealthy body shape for young Londoners."

"No-one should feel pressurised when they travel on the Tube or buses into unrealistic expectations surrounding their bodies."

But the London Mayor stressed that instead of "banning" ads, they would be convincing companies to change their posters.

"Hopefully we won’t ban ads…we’ll talk to the person with the advert and persuade them to tweak their advert so it’s not pressurising people."

But the caller thought Mr Khan should have bigger issues to deal with as Mayor, instead of the ads we see on our commute.

"Where does it stop?" asked Amy. asking Khan if we was going to tackle ads that feature males like David Gandy or David Beckham in their underwear.

Sadiq responded that the Beach Body Ready ad "gave the impression to Londoners, particularly women, particularly girls, there was pressure to confirm to an unhealthy body shape.

"You'll not be surprised to hear we've not received many complaints about David Beckham or David Gandy."

Amy: "I just feel there are more important things to be looking at than ads.

"Take them at what they are, they're a marketing ploy for that product."